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Friday, June 22, 2012

The Baby Review

There are a lot of movies that make me cringe, but they are usually labeled as something horrific or have a lot of brutality. This 1973 horror film did nothing of that nature to me, until the final reveal in which I wanted to punch the television as hard as I could. Not too many things bug me, and most horror films I can figure out, but this film had me second guessing, talking to my girlfriend back and forth and wondering what in the world was happening and whether or not this film was a serious contender for an instant classic, and it sure played with me like, well, a baby. The film I’m going to try and ramble about today is The Baby.

The movie seems weird at first and continues in very awkward stages. The plot revolves around a social worker that has to deal with a very strange family that has a “baby”. The twist here is that the baby is full grown, an adult, and acts completely like a baby. When the social worker finds out that the family is abusing the child, a whole new world opens up and she fights hard to get him the help she believes he needs. However, there is a switch in plot points where psychosis sets in and the well to do worker becomes a serial killer, and before that ends something big happens, something so big that you’re going to probably laugh. During the film there is a point where one of the baby’s sisters breast feeds him, breaking yet another taboo in horror.

Now, the plot thickens and logic gets thrown out the window as we start to ask a lot of questions….for instance:

Is the child faking?

Is the child playing a fetish?

Is the child just mentally retarded?

Those questions and so much more start to take shape and I started to realize that no matter what I thought was right, it was wrong. The ending plays out like a modern Hitchcock tale with some extremes that you just can’t predict. If you called the ending before it happens, I commend you, otherwise get ready for something to punch you in the gut.

The Baby is not a scary movie, necessarily, but it has its moments. There’s no gore, no major sex scene, but it has enough horror elements to make this something to watch at least once. I wouldn’t watch it over and over again, and it is not a favorite, but it is something worth checking out, especially for what happens, in the end!